


What We Are

by I_Am_A_Rock



Series: Ask Insanity [1]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Gen, Platonic Relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-05
Updated: 2019-04-21
Packaged: 2020-01-05 05:19:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 6,424
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18359402
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/I_Am_A_Rock/pseuds/I_Am_A_Rock
Summary: Floating in the pitch black void that made up the inactive part of the mindscape, there were these rooms, the rooms of suppressed Sides. Two of these places floated deeper than the others, one was made of pain and misery and the other was just… weird. The feeling that the latter caused was almost indescribable, though the person who lived in it never cared, it was how he had felt every day for as long as he could remember. That and the loneliness that comes with being completely by yourself for your whole life. Being unwhole and isolated was all the man had ever known, and no matter how much he tried to ignore it, he was done being alone. The Side couldn’t take it anymore, and he knew he would do anything to not be suppressed, anything.Story behind Ask Insanity Sanders.





	1. Chapter 1

“YAWN! Morning already,” a messy, purple-headed figure grumbled sleepily to his alarm clock as he rolled over to face the device, “Come on, five more minutes.” He pulled the blanket back over his head and prepared to go back to sleep, the clock (of course) didn’t stop beeping, that's when he remembered how the clock couldn’t understand him. After many minutes of moaning, the man finally sat up and hit the off button. Sighing, he looked around his room, like he did every day, to see if anything was different. The area was dark with broken, ragged furniture, the walls were covered in scratches and stains, and a single curtain-less window illuminated the sad sight.

“Yep,” he stated loudly to himself as he walked over to the opening, “still here.” He then leaned out the frame and screamed at the top of his lungs, “HELLO! MINDSCAPE! IT’S ME, YOUR INSANITY!” the Side always used his title instead of his name when yelling at inanimate objects, he never really liked the name, “I’M STILL HERE AND STILL REALLY BORED! IS ANYBODY THERE?” Insanity knew that no one was going to reply, he had asked that question every single day for his entire life, no one had ever replied. The morning yelling was useless and he knew that, but talking to inanimate objects and concepts helped him feel less alone, it was one of this many coping methods. He was constantly thinking aloud, playing video games for hours, read lots of books, and he would often run around in circles, screaming until he passed out (it’s something to do). His favorite and most effective technique was when he set challenges for himself, Insanity would find tasks he struggled at and work to see how fast or how well he could do them. These tasks often were exhausting and took up all of the Facet’s limited attention span, completing them felt great and distracted him from his miserable life. Unfortunately, there were also those days when he was just too unhappy to think of anything distracting, when he would just sit around and stare at the window or the locked door with no handle. This was looking like one of those days as he plopped down on the ground.

“I need to get out of here… please. Just give me a chance,” Insanity quietly said, hugging his legs, “I don’t want to die alone.”

  
  


_ Three Days Later _

“What is up everybody!” Thomas Sanders announced enthusiastically to the camera, “So for the past three months there has been this new challenge going around Youtube, kinda like the ice bucket challenge, but a bit more extreme. Though, don’t worry, it is not life threatening.” He paused for second a before continuing, “I am going to participate in the Indemutatio pill challenge.” He then quickly picked up a small green pill off the table and showed it to the camera, “This pill is called Indemutatio, it is a kind of drug that makes people act a little differently…” He looked down nervously at the pill for a second then started rambling, “Apparently, it has been scientifically and medically proven to be very safe, several other Youtubers have already done this and are completely fine, the effects only last about two weeks, though it says ‘don’t do this at home’…” Thomas stopped talking and took a deep breath, “Sorry, I have never done something like this before. I am feeling a little bit-”

“Anxious,” a dark figure had appeared out of nowhere and was standing in a corner behind Thomas, “This is a bad idea.”

“Virgil! You scared me, I was just recording,” Thomas exclaimed before putting the pill down and turning the camera off. “So what’s up?” he said.

“Thomas… I don’t think you should take that pill thing,” Virgil said cautiously.

“Why not?” another man with a blue tie and glasses had popped up next to Virgil, “Thomas has been planning this for months, he had to double time the amount of short videos he makes on average to make up the amount of weeks, and everyone in the mindscape is exhausted from having to work overtime.”

“You can say that again Logan, whew,” a friendly looking man in a blue polo and white cat hoodie draped around his shoulders suddenly announced from across the room.

“Hey Patton, what are you doing here,” Thomas said to the newest arrival.

“Oh, just checking to see what you kiddos were doing… so… what are you kiddos doing?” He asked.

“Virgil is suggesting that we should not do the Indemutatio challenge and waste all of the weeks we have spent preparing for it,” Logan said.

Virgil started to defend himself, “I never sai-”

“WHAT!” a fourth man in a prince costume dramatically exclaimed, “Are you suggesting that we waste all of my hard work! How dar-”

“Roman,” Patton said disapprovingly before the Trait could finish.

“Sorry,” Roman said, “Got a little carried away, you probably have a good reason for it.”

“Yeah,” agreed Thomas, “before we start arguing about everything let's hear what you have to say. So, why shouldn’t I take the pill?”

“It’s a bad idea,” Virgil said finally.

“Yeah you said that already.”

“It seemed worth repeating.”

“You say that about everything,” Roman muttered, “Which can be great!”

“How is it an inadequate idea and why haven’t you voiced these concerns before?” Logan asked.

“I only just started to think about it,” Virgil said defensively, “we have no idea what it will do to you or us!”

“Yes, which is why we are experimenting with it. To figure out how it affects us,” Logan countered.

“But what if it ‘affects us’ badly.”

“Preposterous, it has been scientifically proven to be completely safe.”

“How do we know they’re telling the truth?”

“There is no logical reason for them to lie.”

“Or is there?”

While the two Sides continued arguing Thomas went over what they said before announcing, “Virgil is right!” The two jumped in surprise and turned to face their host, “We have no idea what this will do to me, and it could be kinda bad. But, so is Logan, we will never know unless we try it.” All the Sides but Virgil nodded. “I’m sorry Virge, but I am going to have to side with Logan on this one. Okay?”

He looked down and sighed, “Fine, okay.” He looked at Logan and said, “I’ll trust you.” The darkest Trait crossed his arms than sank down back into the mindscape. The other Facets stepped to the side as Thomas started recording again. The man took the pill and they waited, an hour or so later they all started feeling a little weird. Virgil didn’t come back.

“So,” Patton said eventually, “I’d better check on Old Gloomy-Gus. Just to make sure he’s okay.” Thomas nodded that it was fine and the fatherly Trait sank down. When he got to the back of the mind, Virgil’s room was gone.


	2. Chapter 2

Virgil woke with a splitting headache, “Ugh,” correction, everything hurt. He briefly wondered what happened then remembered the pill.

“I knew this was a bad idea,” he said to himself miserably. Wincing, he slowly sat up and when he got a good look at the state of his room, he groaned again, louder this time. Sure his room had never exactly been neat but now it was a complete disaster, it looked like it had just been through a massive earthquake (and maybe it had). All of his furniture had been turned over, books, CDs, photos, electronics, and various other, now mostly broken, objects covered the floor. He bet the rest of his area looked exactly like this. With one final moan, the darkly dressed man got up and, limping slightly, started cleaning the mess. A couple of hours later, when he finally finished, Virgil realized that he should probably check on the others to make sure they were okay. ~~_You careless idiot! They could have been hurt and you choose to clean your room first before looking for them!_~~

“Shut up!” He said, though he knew that would not stop the voice. Everyone has a little voice in the back of their head that sometimes tries to convince it’s owner that everything they do and have done is wrong. Virgil, as Thomas’s anxiety itself, experiences that constantly at full volume. The possibility of one of the others being hurt made the Side force himself to ignore his insecurities and he started heading to the door. He turned the handle, expecting to step out into the hallway to the commons (the main area of the mindscape), instead he found himself facing another Side’s room.

“What the hell?” he exclaimed, shocked. He cautiously leaned in and looked around, it didn’t look like it belonged to any of the Sides he knew of. The place was even darker than his and he had to squint a little to see.

“H-hello,” he had never even heard of this happening before, ever, it was impossible. Sure, the Sides’ rooms changed, moved, and even disappeared from the main mindscape, it all depended on what happened in Thomas’s life. But, one fact always stayed the same, they always stayed isolated. Logan had once explained that this was to keep the areas from affecting each other. Virgil cleared his throat and raised his voice, “Hello!”

Meanwhile, upstairs, Insanity was lying on the floor, reading a book, when he ~~heard~~ thought he heard someone say, “Hello!” He immediately jerked up, did somebody else say something. Then the man started to think about it, no, no, no, he was probably just hearing things again, no reason to get his hopes up. Still, maybe there was a tiny chance someone was there. Cautiously he rose to his feet, crept to the door, and slowly turned the handle. The Persona responsible for the noise had decided to explore, so when Insanity came down, he was crushed to find that the room was empty as always.

“Yep… just in my head,” he said quietly then walked into the kitchen to get a snack. When he got there, he froze. Right in front of him was another Side, he looked exactly like him except he was wearing a black hoodie and black sweat pants with purple detailing on them (Pajamas) and his bright purple bangs were pushed messily over his face. The man was looking around the room, he hadn’t seemed to notice Insanity staring at him. _What do I do, what do I do, WHAT DO I DO_! Insanity thought to himself, continuing not to move. Though he had always wanted to meet another person, he never thought about what he would do if it actually happened. The Facet was at a complete lost for what to do, should he go say hi, introduce himself, how should he introduce himself, so many questions were racing through his head. He was becoming very nervous all of a sudden, he started going over everything that could go wrong at this moment, he had never felt this way before. Luckily, Insanity didn’t have to think about his new found insecurity for very long because the guy he was panicking about finally turned around and screamed. Virgil had not realized he was there and the other Persona surprised him. Unable to think of anything else, Insanity screamed as well, running out of the kitchen door where he ended up crashing into a wall and knocking himself out. Virgil took this opportunity to race out of the kitchen as well and back to his room where he sank to the floor, panting. Several hours later, when the anxious Side finally calmed down, he would go back into the room to find the newfound Side lying unconscious on the floor. He laid him down on the couch, planning on talking to him when he woke up, then started pacing, trying not to spiral into a full blown panic attack.

* * *

Back in the commons, Patton was panicking. He had looked everywhere and couldn’t find the door or, more importantly, Virgil.

“VERGE! CAN YOU HEAR ME! WHERE ARE YOU?” his screams echoed throughout the halls. The worried Side ran off again to continue his search when he crashed into the back of a black polo, knocking its owner to the ground.

“OW! Watch where you’re going Patton,” Logan yelled, surprised, “What in the world are you even doi-” Then the Side got a good look at his friend, Patton was completely out of breath and panting, which was to be expected, he had been running, that didn’t worry him. Normally, when this kind of thing happened the fatherly Trait would simply get up, smile, and apologize, this time when Patton saw Logan on the ground, he rushed over, grabbed the other Side’s shoulders, started shaking him violently, and screaming, “LOGANHELPICAN’TFINDHIM!”

“W-why are y-y-you sh-shak-ing me!” Logan shrieked in shock, “W-who can’t-t y-you f-f-find?”

Patton finally stopped, though he didn’t let go, “VIRGIL!”

“You can’t find Virgil? Have you, perhaps, checked his room?” the logical Persona replied.

“I CAN’T FIND HIS ROOM!”

Logan sighed, Patton’s cries were giving him a migraine, “Patton, calm down, please. I’m certain it’s around here somewher-”

“NO IT’S NOT!” Logan winced so he lowered his voice, “I’ve looked everywhere, I can’t find it.”

“Are you sure?” Patton nodded.

“I checked everywhere and everything,” he said then started to cry, “twice.” Sobbing he wrapped his arms entirely around the other Trait and buried his head into his shirt. Logan had no idea what to do. _Feelings, the bane of my existence_ , he thought to himself. Slowly he started patting the poor guy.

“There, there,” he mumbled awkwardly. “Why don’t we look again, together. Don’t people usually say _third time's the spell_?”

“Heh,” Patton replied, “Actually, it’s _charm_.” The two got up and started searching for the missing Facet.

“I’m sure Virgil is alright,” Logan stated but then he started to wonder, _what if he really was gone_ ? _Is my friend’s disappearance my fault_ ? These thoughts caused him to move a bit faster, _did I get Virgil killed after he said_ , “ **_I’ll trust you._ **”

_Day 1/14_


	3. Chapter 3

Insanity woke up the next morning with a splitting headache, he immediately recognized it as the same kind of pain he gets when he crashes into walls too hard.  _ Yep _ , he thought,  _ he was just as groggy and sore as every other time he knocked himself out (he did it a lot) _ . The man sat up slowly and dizzily tried to get his bearings. To help speed up the progress, he started to ask himself the usual questions that help him understand his situation.

“Okay,” Insanity mumbled to himself,  _ what did I do _ ? “I crashed into a wall.”  _ What happened _ ? “I blacked out.”  _ Am I okay _ ? He looked down at himself, other than his head, he seemed fine, “Yep!”  _ Has anything changed _ ? He looked around the room, his vision had steadied enough for him to see nothing had. “Ugg…”  _ Where am I _ ? He looked down again and leaned back, “On the couch!” After a second, the man shot back up.  _ The couch _ ?  _ How did I end up on the couch _ ?  _ It would have stopped me from hitting the wall too hard _ !  _ I definitely was knocked out by a wall _ !  _ How did I get here _ ?  _ I was unconscious so there's no way I got here _ !  _ Unless someone else came and… _ That’s when he remembered what happened.

“Someone else came,” he whispered to himself, “Someone else…” With that Insanity jolted off the sofa and raced into the kitchen, it was empty. “WHAT WAS I THINKING!” he yelled facepalming, “I finally meet another person and all I do is SCREAM at them! How was I so stupid! Uah,” He moved his other hand to his face, “He’s probably gone and I’m gonna be stuck here alone FOREVER!” A moan coming from outside snapped him out of his rather loud rant. His eyes widened and he cautiously stepped back into the hallway. The door to his room had a handle, and it was open. The feeling of nervousness from earlier returned and only got worse the closer he came to the crack. Shaking slightly, he pushed the frame. The fissure widened to reveal an area similar to his own though in better condition and covered in spider webs, but the decorations weren’t what caught his attention. Right on the arm of the couch, his eyes closed and his head leaning against his palm, was the same person he saw last night. Virgil had eventually exhausted himself from pacing and fell asleep. Insanity stared at the stranger and, exactly like the night before, he froze.

Shaking harder he reached his hand out and whispered, “um…” He pulled his hand back,  _ what should I do _ , he felt terrified. The Side then jumped as the other let out a moan suddenly. The man shifted in his seat on the couch and stretched slightly; Insanity took a step back as the other Side opened his eyes. Virgil blinked a few times before finally regaining his senses, as soon as he did, he jerked up. Insanity stayed motionless as the other quickly examined him.

The dark trait relaxed slightly (VERY slightly) before finally saying, “You’re the guy from last night.” The other nodded slowly and Virgil continued, “So… you knocked yourself out.” He nodded again. “Um… sorry for scaring you?” he said cautiously.

Insanity managed to calm down and let out the breath he didn’t know he had been holding, “I-it’s okay, I knock myself out a lot… Sorry for screaming at you.”

Virgil looked momentarily surprised then decided that he’d heard of stranger habits, “Eh, I get screamed at a lot.” He then started settling back into his usual ‘I don’t care’ exterior.

Insanity smiled shyly at him also falling into his usual overly cheerful demeanor, “So… hi.”

‘Hey,” the other replied awkwardly.

Insanity waited for a moment but he didn’t say anything else, “Who are you?” he asked.

“Um… Anxiety,” he hadn’t had to introduce himself since he first entered the commons, someone else usual did it for him, “You?”

It took him awhile to decide how to answer, “I’m Insanity!” he announced loudly. Virgil’s eyes widened,  _ I’m with a psychopath _ .

“What is something wrong?”

The other shook his head, remembering how he felt when the other sides judged him for what he represents, “It’s just surprising. Do you have another name?” Still, it might be easier to give him a chance if he doesn’t think of him as insane. All sides are created knowing what they are and their name, they can feel these things somehow.

“Yeah… it kinda sucks!”

“Try me.”

“I’ve never really liked it, I just go by Insanity!”

“Ah, still… Try. Me.”

“What’s your name?”

“I don’t have to tell you.”

“I’ll tell you mine!”

“I’m not that curious.”

“Welp, I’ll tell you your’s when you tell me mine! Wait that’s not right,” then Insanity sat down on the floor and spent the next minute or so trying to correct himself. This insanity guy was beginning to seem like an even more hyper and confused version of Patton (if that’s even possible). He looked down, waited for the other to get his thoughts straight, and began to wonder,  _ Is it worth it to tell him my name _ ?  _ It’s not like I haven’t already told the other sides _ .  _ But I know them, this a complete stranger and a possible psychopath _ .  _ Then again, if I can tell Princey then I can basically tell anyone. Still, it can’t hurt to not tell him for now _ . The darker Side looked back up, Insanity was still struggling to correct himself (his sentences were actually getting worse).

Sighing, he finally announced, “You know what it doesn’t really matter.”

“Huh,” Insanity jolted his head back up.

“I’ll call you whatever you want me to call you and I don’t really care what you call me.” being the defensive guy he is, he added, “Now that that’s done with, please, stop panicking over how to pronounce… whatever you’re trying to say, it’s getting annoying.” That’s when Virgil noticed the dark marks under the other’s eyes, they appeared after one was in his room too long. They were a sign of his area corrupting other sides, but Insanity didn’t seem to be becoming more nervous, the opposite in fact.

“Oh… Oh. Oh! Sure or cool!” The insane Side said once he finally understood what happened, “Can I call you… um… Anx?”

Deciding he didn’t want to risk this new Persona getting hurt, Virgil said, “Whatever, sorry, this place isn’t good for… you.” He stood up and, beckoning Insanity to follow, started going up the stairs to his bedroom, “Believe me you do not want to stay in this area much longer.”

“Oh.. okay!” Smiling, he stood up to follow him, “Okay, Anx!” Virgil may not have realized this but the reason he wasn’t acting corrupted was because this was the happiest he had ever been in his life.  _ I’m not alone _ , he thought, smiling even harder.

_ Day 1/14 _


	4. Chapter 4

Logan and Patton had spent all night searching through the commons, over and over again, before they finally had to admit… Virgil was gone.

“What are we going to do, Logan!” Patton said shakily, running his hands through his hair.

“I-I… don’t know, there is no reason for this to happen,” Logan replied.  _ Gah! I hate not knowing something. _

“We should tell the others!”

“Affirmative, besides, even if it turns out not to be a good idea, I don’t think we have a choice. They’ll figure out that Virgil is gone eventually, even Roman’s not that stupid.”

“Should we get Thomas?”

Logan thought about that for a moment, “No, we don’t need to bother him with this information. There is nothing he can do, it would only worry him.”

“Okay,” Patton sighed and looked down at his feet, he had been crying on and off since he first started looking for Virgil. Logan had to calm him down multiple times to keep him thinking straight, “Could y-you call th-them?”

“Alright... Roman, Pranks, Missy, Imag…” he sighed, “ and Anger and Deceit, could you please come to the commons, it’s urgent.” One by one each of the different Sides appeared beside the two.

“What’s going on?” Buddy or Imag, Thomas’s  **imag** ination, asked.

“Yeah, what’s so important teach?” Thomas’s prankster side, Zach (Everyone just calls him Pranks), also wondered, “I was just in the middle of my… legitimate business (a.k.a. Putting itching powder in another side’s underwear).”

“Yes, what do you need, I am TOTALLY happy to help, it’s NOT like I have anything better to do,” Deceit lied (of course).

Thomas’s Anger (his actual name is Aiden, though almost no one called him that because he would often throw that person through a nearby wall) just growled at the reasonable trait.

“It’s about Virgil,” Logan answered.

“Uh… Is this about the pill? I know it’s his job to be a worry wart, but we already took it, there’s nothing we can do,” Roman exclaimed.

“Wait, we were doing the Indemutatio challenge TODAY? Why didn’t anyone tell me?” asked Missy a.k.a: Melissa, Misleading Compliment, the only ‘female’ side, and the unfortunate owner of the underwear Pranks… “compromised”.

Logan tried to regain the others’ attentions, “Yes we started the challenge today, and this situation  **_could_ ** be because of the pill, but-”

“Where is Hot Topic anyway?” Roman interrupted.

Pranks, “Yeah why didn’t you get hi-”

“WE CAN’T FIND VIRGIL, THAT IS THE PROBLEM!!!!!” Patton screamed suddenly, making everyone (but Logan) jump in shock. The others finally saw the fatherly Trait and realized he was sobbing. Even Anger momentarily forgot to scowl.

“Oh,” Roman said finally, “Are you sure?”

“Yes,” Patton replied.

Roman, “Have you tried the-”

Patton, “Yes.”

Roman, “Or the-”

“We have looked throughout every area we have access to, multiple times,” Logan said.

The others really started to look worried, “Are you sure he’s not just in his room?” Missy asked cautiously.

“He may be there,” Logan answered, “We also can’t find his door. It is not in either of its usual places, nor anywhere else.”

Missy, “How can that be?”

“We’re not sure,” the logical Trait adjusted his glasses and looked away, “My theory is that the pill may have caused Virgil to be… suppressed.”

* * *

_ Meanwhile _

“For the last time… GET OFF OF ME!” Virgil yelled at Insanity for, yet again, trying to lie on his shoulder. Yep, this new side was exactly like a more extreme version of Patton, he was a huge cuddler and Virgil was NOT.

“Sorry!’ Insanity smiled sheepishly and moved his head away.

“So… you’ve lived out here your whole life?”

“Yep!”

“Who else lives out here.”

“I HAVE NO IDEA!”

Virgil winced, “Why are you always screaming?” The Side in question shrugged.“Okay, what do you mean you don’t know?”

“Huh?”

“Look, you said you have lived in this area since the beginning of your existence, you have to at least have SEEN someone else around here.”

“Normally, I don’t think any of us can leave our rooms. Most of us are just floating around in the abyss with no way to get to one another!”

Virgil stared at the the other Side, trying to process this newfound information, “You mean you are just stuck here, in your room, completely alone.”

“You are the first person I have ever met!!”

“Really,” Virgil said carefully, “That sounds kind of lonely.”

On the inside Insanity was screaming  _ YES YES YES YES YEEEEES!!!!!!!!! ABSOLUTELY!!!!!!!!!! IT IS MISERABLE!!!!!!!!!! _ Instead he lied for some reason, “It’s not so bad! I can always talk to my lamp-post, it is a great listener!”

“If you say s-,” then the dark Side realized something, “you talk to your lamp?”

“Yep!”

“Your lamp?”

“Yep!”

“That is honestly, kind of a weird thing to mention.”

“THANK YOU!” Insanity screamed (with way too much enthusiasm).

“STOP HUGGING ME!!!!!!!!!!!!! PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” Virgil growled angrily.

“Sorry!”

Virgil sighed, “It’s fine just please, please, please stop.”  
“SURE!!!” he screamed again, louder this time, making Virgil jump and end up falling off the bed, “Oh, sorry... again! I’ll try to stop!.. So… what’s the main mindscape like?”

“It’s alright, we actually call it the commons, or one of the others named it that (Roman) and it eventually stuck. The other Sides are also pretty great once you get to know them,” Virgil then remembered Deceit, “well most of them.”

Virgil sighed and Insanity noticed he had suddenly gotten quieter, “Anx (Virgil)… Do you think you are going to get back there soon?” he asked.

It took the other Side a moment before he remembered Insanity was talking about him (he has not been called Anxiety in a long time), “Well, I hope so,” he finally said.

With that Insanity’s heart broke a little and he wanted to cry. Again he was screaming inside of his head,  _ NOOOOOOOOO! Please don’t go! Don’t leave me! I can’t keep living like that!!!!!!!!! Please… it’ll kill me. _ Again he lied, “Okay sure. No problem.”

The other looked at him strangely and Insanity smiled.

Eventually Virgil said, “A lri gh t  th en ,  _ now with that out of the way, what do we do now?” _

The two Sides continued to chat while, unbeknownst to them, the space around their connected doors was falling apart, the matter turning to dust as it fell into the Abyss, the darkest and most deadly part of the Suppression. No mind in all of history has had a Side that managed to go there and come back (at least not in one piece).

_ Day 2/14 _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is probably obvious, but I am still going to clarify it just in case.
> 
> You will notice that when Insanity refers to Virgil as "Anx" I also type his actual name in parenthesis so that there is no confusion to who he's talking about (especially since he is only called that in the dialogue).


	5. Chapter 5

“Suppressed! What do you mean he’s suppressed?” Imag exclaimed.

  
“Simple,” Logan replied, “depending on events in a Host’s life, that person can grow-out-of or lose some of their personality traits. When this happens, the Side that represented that trait is stripped down to his/her most basic functions and is removed from the main mindscape. After they have been removed the Facet will lie in an inactive, coma-like state unless they are being directly used or the Host re-develops their trait.”

  
Anger face palmed himself at the logical Persona’s lecture, “Look nerd, that is not what we freaking mean! We all freaking know what freaking suppression is!” he yelled, “All we want to freaking know is can we help that sorry son of a jerk out of there, how we’re going to freaking do it, and how long will this stupid junk’ll take!!!”

  
“AIDEN, please, calm down,” Patton grabbed his shoulder, everyone was shocked at the use of the violent Side’s real name, Anger shrugged off the hand and stepped back from the fatherly Trait, “I want answers too but taking things out on Logan won’t help anybody.” He opened his mouth to yell at Patton but stopped himself when he saw the pleading look in Patton’s eyes. He looked away and proceeded to glare harder at Logan, Stupid, cursed puppy-dog eyes, he thought to himself but stayed silent.

  
“As much as I hate to admit it, I do… vaguely… agree with Lord Freak-Out here. HOW MIGHT WE ASSIST IN SLAYING THIS BEAST!” Roman exclaimed dramatically, brandishing his sword.  
“Roman there is no beast,” Logan stated.

  
“YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN!”

  
“YEAH TEACH! What can we do,” Pranks also exclaimed.

  
“You’re not gonna find Virge… WITHOUT ME!” Missy.

  
“LET’S DO THIS,” Patton and Imag announced together.

  
“Oh yes… I totally will help you… not,” Deceit sneered as the others turned to face him. Anger continued to growl, only louder.

* * *

 The rest of the day (or night; there really isn’t anything to tell time in the Suppression) passed uneventfully. Virgil and Insanity continued to talk, trying to come up with some sort of plan. All that happened was that Insanity somehow managed to convince Virgil to let him say in his room for a little while longer (he promised he wouldn’t be anywhere near him). The two eventually created a sleeping bag and fell asleep (A.K.A. Insanity fell slept and Virgil stayed up all night trying not to have a panic attack); Insanity snored, loudly.

_Day 2/14_


	6. Chapter 6

The next day, the commons were quiet that morning. This was very unusual; this place was the hangout area of the Sides. Not that Deceit would normally care, but this time was different. It was not because he was worried about Virgil in anyway (he couldn’t care less about that “annoying, emo loser”), he was just bored. It had been a while since he had really messed with the others. He couldn’t bother anyone; the other Sides would “bother” him if he did anything. Looking around the room, he began to wonder, _It has been hours since everyone had run off to find Virgil. What could they be doing?_ The manipulative Trait quickly shook himself out of these thoughts, _Nah! Don’t actually care! You just came here to get a snack and get out._ (Deceit tells the truth only to himself and only in his head.) He walked over to the kitchen area that connected to the commons; his eyes locked on his target. There on the counter was a jar of Patton’s cookies; he grabbed a large ziploc bag and dumped the entire batch into the plastic. Next, he placed one of Imag’s stuffed animals on the floor and covered it with crumbs. Smiling faintly at the pointless trick, he started heading to the hallway back to his room. Then he noticed the stairs leading to the upper parts of the mindscape, leading up to Logan’s room. The logical Trait keep the mind manuals in his room, so all of the other sides would likely be up there to look for information. Deceit paused, curiosity slowly taking over again, but this time these thoughts refused to go away. Sighing he shoved the cookies into a pocket underneath his cloak and began to climb the stairs.

Standing in front of a simple, wooden door with a whiteboard stuck neatly to the front, Deceit quickly looked over the writing ‘ **LOGIC** ’. Stealthily stepping forward, he placed his ear to the door. It was quiet other than what sounded like someone… snoring? Cautiously, he creaked open the door and peeked in; almost everyone in the room was sound asleep except for Imag who was holding an air-horn. Looking around Deceit opened the door and walked to the center of the room (discovering that, shockingly enough, the snores were coming from Logan).

“What is going on?” he eventually asked Imag.

Imag jumped with a slight yelp and turned around suddenly. “Shhhhhhhhhh,” he glared once he recognized the lying Side.

“Fine” Deceit repeated his question, this time whispering.

Imag looked back at the others and replied, “Roman suspected that they would all likely fall asleep while reading, so Pranks gave me one of his air-horns and told me to honk it at anyone who dozed off.”

Deceit raised an eyebrow and gestured at the sleeping Personas.

Imag shrugged, “At first I did wake them, but after a while, it began to seem mean. They all looked like they really needed it. From what I heard Logan and Pat had not slept for two days; I thought one little break couldn’t hurt.” He then yawned.

“How long have they been asleep, and how long have you been up?” Deceit asked before sarcastically stating, “You all look wonderful.”

“Well… I’ve been up all night,” Imag visibly slumped at this thought, “but so have they; I only let them sleep about an hour or two ago.”

“Huh… May I see the air-horn?” Deceit asked.

Imag began to hand it towards the other then stopped, “Why?”

“I just want to look at it,” he grabbed it from Imag, looked him in the eye, smiled, and honked it as hard and as loudly as he could. Before the imaginative Facet could think, he threw the air-horn back at him and raced out of the room. As he hurried down the stairs he heard a lot of screaming and a loud crash, and then he remembered Anger was in there.

 

 _Several hours later_ , Anger had finally calmed down, thanks to Patton. From the other side of the room Logan was glaring at him while applying an ice pack to his shoulder. Anger met his gaze for a few seconds and then looked towards the wall through which he had launched the Side. Roman and Imag were currently using their powers to repair it. Everyone else was just standing around awkwardly; trying not to meet the aggressive Side’s gaze. Anger refused to admit it but he actually did feel bad about what happened and the silence was killing him.

But he wasn’t the only one who felt bad, “I’m so sorry, guys,” Imag suddenly said breaking the silence.

“For what?” Pranks moaned.

“I shouldn’t have let Deceit take the air-horn from me,” he replied looking down, “If I hadn’t let it go off no one would have… freaked out.” Anger had suddenly become very absorbed in studying the sleeves of his jacket.

Missy groaned at Imag, “Come on!” she exclaimed exasperated, “It isn’t your fault DECEIT woke us up, and ANGER’s the one who threw Logan through a wall!”

With that Anger snapped (again), “Well I’m sorry for being angry about having some jerk blast an air-horn in my face while I was sleeping,” he growled through a clenched jaw.

Missy glared right back at him, “MOST of us were asleep, it wasn’t specifically in YOUR face, LOGIC wasn’t the jerk who woke you, AND YOU ARE ALWAYS ANGRY!!!! YOU DON’T ALWAYS HAVE TO FREAK OUT ABOUT EVERY. LITTLE. THING!!!!!!!!”

Anger screamed right back, “YES I DO!!!! MY JOB IS TO FREAK OUT ABOUT EVERY. LITTLE. THING!!!! I AM ANGER!!!!!!!!” The two continued screaming at each other and Logan put down the ice-pack and rested his head in his hands.

Roman looked at his fellow Trait, “Well… what now? We have been looking through these wretched things for HOURS and found absolutely nothing!” Logan sighed in reply.

Pranks decides to correct him and says, "Technically we have only been looking through them for a few minutes," Roman glared at him, "We kept falling asleep remember... Sorry, I'll shut up now."

“As much as I hate, HATE, to admit it… Pranks is right about two things,” Anger spoke up suddenly having finished arguing with Missy, “We have only managed to read these manuals for a few minutes before passing out. I mean come on, these things are infamous for being so boring they’re practically magic.”

Pranks was shocked that the violent Trait was actually agreeing with him, “Wow… yeah Anger, ex-exactly,” then he realized something, “Wait I was right about two things?”

“Yeah you were right about how you should shut up right now,” he replied dryly.

“There’s the Anger we all know and love,” Missy commented sarcastically.

“Guys, this is not helping Virgil!” Patton had gotten tired of the others just standing around arguing while their friend was missing. Everyone stared at the normally cheerful and carefree Persona as he suddenly yelled at them to focus.

“Pat,” Imag said eventually, “We’re trying but we don’t know what to do, sorry Logan, but the Mind Manuals don’t seem to be working.”

“So what do we do now?” Patton asked, “We can’t just give up.”

There was a long pause as each of the sides tried to think of a response (Anger really wanted to hit something again), but eventually Missy spoke up, “You know, maybe we really should talk to Thomas about this or at least check on him to see how he is doing.”

Logan sighed

Missy and the others turned to face him, “Well, Teach?”

“I guess that might be the best course of action for now,” the logical Trait responded.

“I suppose I shall go alert Thomas of Hot-Topic’s predicament!” Roman announced, “Of the five of us who have revealed ourselves to him, I am the only one who is completely… awake.” Logan and Patton both agreed (They have not actually slept for two days).

“Wait! Don’t forget about Deceit!” Missy reminded the others.

There was no hesitation in the series of “no”s that followed.

Missy, “Point taken.”

_Day 3/14_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Find out what happens next in Ask Insanity Sanders.


	7. To Be Continued...

Thank you for reading. This was my first fanfiction!

If you liked it and want to find out what happens next, check out my blog **Ask-Insanity-Sanders**.

See you next time random strangers!

-A Rock

**Author's Note:**

> Comment down below any spelling errors or suggestions to improve the story.


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